Mikko Rantanen had only played for one franchise throughout his career, but that changed sooner than he expected when the Colorado Avalanche traded him in January. Now playing for the Dallas Stars, Rantanen revealed that he never planned to leave Colorado. The 28-year-old forward addressed his exit in a press conference on Saturday .

"I told them I'll be flexible and I want to play here for a long time. Then a couple days later they traded me," Rantanen said Saturday.

It was a wild six weeks for Mikko Rantanen, which included two trades and negotiating a potential contract with several teams.

The Stars could celebrate the blockbuster NHL trade deadline deal that netted Dallas Miko Rantanen from the Hurricanes – but the celebration won't last for long if the player they're acquiring is the Carolina version of the 28-year-old.

With the Hurricanes against the ropes and Rantanen refusing to commit to signing an extension before the deadline, Carolina traded him to the Stars. The 27-year-old forward agreed to an eight-year, $96 million extension with Dallas, carrying a $12 million cap hit yearly.

With a likely Stars-Avalanche first round in the cards, GMs Jill Nill and Chris MacFarland spoke to The Athletic about their deadline moves.

Although it’s almost unheard of for a 100-point scorer to be traded twice in the same season, that’s precisely the situation Dallas Stars winger Mikko Rantanen experienced this year.